


love, dante

by littleangels



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: Character Study, Ficlet, Letters, M/M, eventually dante shows ari these letters but i'm slow to update oops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2018-11-09 17:25:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11109324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleangels/pseuds/littleangels
Summary: According to Dante Quintana, the ratio of Dante to Ari letters were seven to one. Dante lied, and Dante hated lying, but what good would these letters do? It wasn’t like he would ever send them.





	1. Remember the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Quand il pleut, il verse” — When it rains, it pours, and Dante chose to dance in a storm.

Dear Ari,

Do you remember the rain?

Every time it pours in Chicago, I think of you. I think of how we took our time to walk to my house when it rained, bare feet splashing gently in puddles. I always thought the rain was sad—the sky was crying and birds couldn’t fly.

But you had a smile on your face. I thought, _B_ _oys like you belong to the rain_.

I wondered if I belonged here too. Not in the rain, but by your side. Rain or shine.

I think I fell a little more in love with you. Just a little.

Love,  
Dante

* * *

 

Dear Ari,

Do you remember the rain?

I know you said we couldn’t talk about it, but letters don’t count right? I’ll say it. I loved you. I still love you. I love you more than you knew, probably more than I knew. I was scared, you know. Terrified. I was scared of the rain, scared of losing you.

I told myself I would hate rain, hate birds, hate whatever would come and take you away. I was so close— _so close_ —to hating myself, too.

Do you hate me, Ari?

 ~~Love,~~  
Dante

* * *

 

Dear Ari,

I remember the rain.

I remember missing you. I remember sitting on the front porch of our house in Chicago and just feeling the rain. It made me think of you.

I think I smiled, too.

I think I love the rain because of you.

Love,  
Dante

* * *

 

Dear Ari,

I remember the rain.

I remember your smile. I remember loving you beyond myself, remember wanting to dance in your storm because me— _me_ — You saw me. That was all I needed to brave the thunder and the lightning.

You make me brave, Ari.

And I love you for it.

Love,  
Dante

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made the mistake (not a mistake, a very good mistake, rather) of reading the book again and honestly? honestly i'm in tears. again. i needed to write something, and like. i ended up writing this slfjas;lfd oh well


	2. Swimming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Dante, water was something he loved, something he respected. He understood (well, sometimes understood) its beauty and its dangers. Swimming was a way of life.

Dear Ari,

Do you remember what I told you when we sat on the front porch? And I gave you my sketchbook?

I love swimming. And I love you.

And when I almost lost you, back then, because of that stupid bird, I thought, _God, this must be what drowning felt like_.

I think that if I had to choose between swimming and you, I would choose you. In a heartbeat.

Love,  
Dante

* * *

 

Dear Ari,

I’ve gotten pretty good at swimming. My coach even said I should consider teaching a class for weekend work. He had me at _teaching_ but he lost me at _work_. I said no.

That reminded me of how we met. I taught you how to swim, remember? That was the best day of my life. It still is.

It’s kind of funny. I taught you how to swim, but sometimes, I sit at night and think to myself, _I wish I could swim through all the murky feelings inside me_.

Maybe I’m not as good at swimming as I thought.

Love,   
Dante

* * *

 

Dear Ari,

I had a dream that I got lost in the ocean. I was on a boat, searching for something, watching the sky, feeling the ocean waves, when I got lost.

And then I started swimming. I felt like I was swimming for a long time. I still didn’t know what I was looking for, but I knew I had to do it. Somewhere inside me, I knew that I would find all the answers if I kept swimming.

I must have been swimming for hours. Right as my arms and legs felt like falling off my body, you come swimming toward me with your sloppy stroke. You were laughing at me.

All of a sudden, we were back at the pool. You finally stopped laughing and smiled.

I love your smile.

You asked me, “Do you want to go home now?”

I felt myself grin like an idiot. “Of course,” I said, and my dream ended there.

I think my dream was about looking for home. Might be the moving thing getting to me. But you know what, Ari? As I’m writing this letter, I think I really did find the answer.

My dream ended before I ever got to see us walk back to our house. You just asked me if I want to go home and I said yes. Of course.

And now I realize: Home is wherever you are.

I miss you more than you know, Aristotle Mendoza.

Love,  
Dante

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had completely forgotten about this, but remembering that this fic/ficlet/whatever thing i had written made me emotional over aaddtsotu again.


	3. Under the Same Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stars held all the secrets of the universe, but Dante realizes that there is more to the secret than the infinite sky.

Dear Ari,

You know what we forgot to bring? The telescope. The fucking, telescope, Ari. Of all the things to forget, that shouldn’t have been one of them.

Dad says it doesn’t matter since Chicago has too much light pollution. I won’t be able to see the stars even if the telescope were here, but it’s stupid. All so fucking stupid. I can’t even go to the planetarium because of his stupid “Don’t take the El at night” rule, but I really wanted to go. I wanted to tell you all about it.

I just wanted to see the stars, Ari. I was having a bad day. Too much, noise, too much city.

I miss El Paso. More importantly, I miss you.

Love,  
Dante

 

* * *

 

 

Dear Ari,

The stars are dim out here, but when the sky gets dark—and I mean really fucking dark—you can actually see some stars. I like to think they’re telling the light pollution to fuck off. Middle fingers up and everything.

It reminded me of you. You’re like rain. You’re like stars. I’m always reminded of you.

Love,  
Dante

 

* * *

 

 

Dear Ari,

I’ve gotten pretty good at hiding my bad days, but sometimes, I feel so pissed I could explode. Pissed at schoolwork. Pissed at Coach. Pissed at the world. But I’m pissed at myself mostly. ~~I’m not sure I want to tell you why~~.

Not to mention how much I miss home. I really, really miss home. I’m up for seeing the world, but I don’t want to see the world without you.

Usually, my dad says some helpful things to cheer me up, but he was working late grading papers. But you know my mom and her crazy mom superpowers. I think it might because she’s a shrink, too, but she took one look at me and saw that something was wrong.

On second thought, I don’t think I should have said it like that. Makes it sound like she was there as my shrink, which just isn’t true. She’s my mom, and I love her. I love her even more for what she told me.

She reminded me that you and I see the same stars.

Can you believe I almost argued with her. I think I would have. “But it _isn’t_ the same sky,” I would say, “because this is Chicago and home is El Paso.”

But I didn’t care. I didn’t say anything. I hugged my mom because she’s right. She’s always right.

 ~~Don’t tell her I said that~~.

You and me, we dream under the same stars, the same sky.

Isn’t that beautiful, Ari?

Love,  
Dante

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i COMPLETELY forgot this existed for a hard few months it seems. my bad.


End file.
